November 9, 2015.Couperin and more.François Couperin, Alexander Borodin, Paul Hindemith and Aaron Copland were all born this week: Couperin on November 10th of 1668; Borodin on November 12th of 1833; Hindemith on November16th of 1995; and five years later, on November14th of 1900 – Copland.It’s a profoundly diverse group and very little links them together, except that all of them are part of the classical music canon.Even Hindemith and Copland, who belonged to the same generation, couldn’t be farther apart.We’ve written about all of them before (you may search our unwieldy archive to find the older entries), so this time we’ll simply celebrate the diversity and juxtapose several characteristic pieces.
François Couperin wrote mostly music for the harpsichord.During his life he composed four “books,” each consisting of several “orders.”The orders contain several individual pieces, some as few as three, others – more than 20.We’ll hear the complete Order XIII from Book 3: Les lis naissans; Les rozeaux; L'engageante; Les folies françoises, ou Les dominos; L'âme-en peine.The pianist is Grigory Sokolov.This is a live recording: lately, Sokolov has refused to record in a studio (we of course remember that Glenn Gould did just the opposite: he refused to play live concerts).Sokolov, who won a Tchaikovsky competition at the age of 16, prefers not to travel, so even though he has a cult following in Europe, he’s practically unknown in the US.
The earliest genuinely original work by Paul Hindemith was a series of pieces he called Kammermusik.The first one was written in 1922, the last (eighth) – in 1928.Here’s Kammermusik No. 1, for 12 instruments, Op. 24 no. 1.Bold, very energetic, it’s scored for an unusual combination of flute, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, harmonium, piano, string quintet and percussion.Members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra are conducted by Riccardo Chailly.
Alexander Borodin, a chemist and an occasional composer of unusual talent, is famous for his opera Prince Igor.Borodin also wrote a small number of chamber pieces and some piano music.Here’s his Petite Suite.It was published in 1885 but written in a course of several previous years.The Suite is performed by Tatyana Nikolayeva.Nikolayeva was a good friend of Dmitry Shostakovich and made a famous recording of his 24 Preludes and Fugues.Renowned in the Soviet Union, she was not very well known in the West.She started traveling abroad after the Perestroika, but on November 13th of 1993 suffered a stroke during a concert in San Francisco; she was playing Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues.Nikolayeva couldn’t finish the performance and died nine days later.
Aaron Copland, one of the most important and influential American composers of the 20th century, may be closer to Borodin than any other composer in our group.Borodin, even though a strong proponent of “absolute music,” was a Russian national composer through and through.His melodies, though they rarely quote folk tunes, are recognizably “Russian.”And so is Copland: his music is quintessentially American, often “populist” and deceptively simple.A Brooklyn Jew of Lithuanian origin, he used folk tunes and old Shaker songs (he also borrowed from jazz and Mexican music). We have a large selection of Copland’s music in our library, so please search or browse and you’ll find some wonderful pieces.
Couperin and more, 2015
November 9, 2015. Couperin and more. François Couperin, Alexander Borodin, Paul Hindemith and Aaron Copland were all born this week: Couperin on November 10th of 1668; Borodin on November 12th of 1833; Hindemith on November 16th of 1995; and five years later, on November 14th of 1900 – Copland. It’s a profoundly diverse group and very little links them together, except that all of them are part of the classical music canon. Even Hindemith and Copland, who belonged to the same generation, couldn’t be farther apart. We’ve written about all of them before (you may search our unwieldy archive to find the older entries), so this time we’ll simply celebrate the diversity and juxtapose several characteristic pieces.
The earliest genuinely original work by Paul Hindemith was a series of pieces he called Kammermusik. The first one was written in 1922, the last (eighth) – in 1928. Here’s Kammermusik No. 1, for 12 instruments, Op. 24 no. 1. Bold, very energetic, it’s scored for an unusual combination of flute, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, harmonium, piano, string quintet and percussion. Members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra are conducted by Riccardo Chailly.
Alexander Borodin, a chemist and an occasional composer of unusual talent, is famous for his opera Prince Igor. Borodin also wrote a small number of chamber pieces and some piano music. Here’s his Petite Suite. It was published in 1885 but written in a course of several previous years. The Suite is performed by Tatyana Nikolayeva. Nikolayeva was a good friend of Dmitry Shostakovich and made a famous recording of his 24 Preludes and Fugues. Renowned in the Soviet Union, she was not very well known in the West. She started traveling abroad after the Perestroika, but on November 13th of 1993 suffered a stroke during a concert in San Francisco; she was playing Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues. Nikolayeva couldn’t finish the performance and died nine days later.
Aaron Copland, one of the most important and influential American composers of the 20th century, may be closer to Borodin than any other composer in our group. Borodin, even though a strong proponent of “absolute music,” was a Russian national composer through and through. His melodies, though they rarely quote folk tunes, are recognizably “Russian.” And so is Copland: his music is quintessentially American, often “populist” and deceptively simple. A Brooklyn Jew of Lithuanian origin, he used folk tunes and old Shaker songs (he also borrowed from jazz and Mexican music). We have a large selection of Copland’s music in our library, so please search or browse and you’ll find some wonderful pieces.